INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Unlike the RS-25 firing at Stennis, NASA chose to broadcast the booster test
Everything appeared to go well until 1 minute and 40 seconds into the burn, when a fiery plume of super-hot exhaust appeared to burn through
part of the booster's structure just above the nozzle
Moments later, the nozzle disintegrated.Solid rocket boosters can't be turned off after ignition, and for better or worse, the motor
continued firing until it ran out of propellant about 30 seconds later
The rocket sparked a fire in the hills overlooking the test stand.This was the first test-firing of the Booster Obsolescence and Life
Extension (BOLE) program, which aims to develop a higher-performance solid rocket booster for SLS missions
NASA awarded Northrop Grumman a $3.2 billion contract in 2021 to produce boosters with existing shuttle parts for five SLS missions (Artemis
IV-VIII), and design, develop, and test a new booster design for Artemis IX.The boosters produce more than 75 percent of the thrust required
to propel the SLS rocket off the launch pad with NASA's crewed Orion spacecraft on top
Four RS-25 engines power the core stage, collectively generating more than 2 million pounds of thrust.Northrop Grumman calls the new booster
"the largest and most powerful segmented solid rocket motor ever built for human spaceflight."One of the most significant changes with the
BOLE booster design is that it replaces shuttle-era steel cases with carbon-fiber composite cases
Northrop says the new cases are lighter and stronger
It also replaces the booster's hydraulic thrust vector control steering system with an electronic system
The propellant packed inside the booster is also different, using a mix that Northrop packs inside its commercial rocket motors instead of
the recipe used for the space shuttle.Northrop Grumman has had a tough time with rocket nozzles in recent years
In 2019, a test motor for the company's now-canceled Omega rocket lost its nozzle during a test-firing in Utah
Then, last year, a smaller Northrop-made booster flying on United Launch Alliance's Vulcan rocket lost its nozzle in flight
Vulcan's guidance system and main engines corrected for the problem, and the rocket still achieved its planned orbit.
